UH Manoa ocean scientist awarded Leopold Fellowship

Margaret McManus, assistant professor in the UH Manoa Department of Oceanography, is one of 18 academic environmental scientists from the US and Canada awarded a 2006 Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship. As a Leopold Fellow, McManus will participate this year in intensive training that includes sessions on how to communicate science effectively to non-scientific audiences, including media and policy makers.

The 2006 fellows come from a wide range of backgrounds, including atmospheric sciences, tropical forest ecology, oceanography and anthropology. They will join a network of 100 past fellows who are active in outreach to policy makers, journalists and other non-scientific audiences.

Fellows are chosen for their outstanding scientific qualifications, demonstrated leadership ability and strong interest in communicating science beyond traditional academic audiences. Each fellow participates in two, week-long training sessions that include practice interviews with journalists and a mock Congressional hearing at which they practice giving testimony. The fellowship also offers peer networking and mentoring through the Aldo Leopold Leadership Network of program advisors, trainers and past fellows.

McManus is the second UH Manoa scientist to receive a Leopold Leadership Fellowship. Robert Richmond, researcher at the Kewalo Marine Laboratory was a 2004 Leopold Leadership Fellow.

About the Fellowships Named for environmental scientist and writer Aldo Leopold, author of A Sand County Almanac, the program was founded in 1998 by Jane Lubchenco, distinguished professor of zoology at Oregon State University, and is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.